


living, healing, and forgetting

by MavenMorozova



Series: short & sweet [10]
Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, One Shot, Post-Canon, Shameless Self promotion, Short One Shot, see "sour apple petites" for a similar vibe, this deals with ptsd a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 00:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21437551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavenMorozova/pseuds/MavenMorozova
Summary: Adrian comforts Nova after a nightmare.
Relationships: Nova Artino | Nightmare/Adrian Everhart | Sketch
Series: short & sweet [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024618
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	living, healing, and forgetting

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! This was originally written for a request on tumblr. follow me @darkalinas !  
That's all for the self promotion today! please enjoy some angsty feels and fluffy romance:)

The walls were grey concrete. Cold. Impenetrable. She cracked her neck and looked up, hoping for an escape route. But no. A fluorescent bulb hung above her. The ceiling was grey concrete. Cold, she assumed. Impenetrable. She squinted and looked down again. The floors were grey concrete. Cold. Impenetrable. She was trapped.

Her breath started to come in short gasps. She sunk to her knees and pressed her face against the cold bars of her cell. Gripped them until her hands were white. No doubt she would go mad here. She attempted to slow her breathing, but her shallow intakes became faster and faster until she was heaving against the bars. She sank to the concrete floor, defeated.

Down the prison hall, she heard a scream. Familiar, yet unknown. She tried to stick her narrow head through the bars to no avail. A moment later, she was laughing hysterically, rubbing her sore ears. A second moment, and her giggles became tears. What irony, she thought. Sweet rot, she was going to die alone. Just as alone as she was when she was six years old.

The screams seemed to approach her. Closer. Closer.  _ Closer _ . They were right in her ear. She looked up to see her uncle’s face looming over her, skin waxy and pale over his bones, mouth wide open. Wailing.

No, that wasn’t right. Uncle Ace would never scream. He would have, at least, a secret look of power in his sharp eyes. No, this was wrong.

Her head snapped up. She was in darkness. No concrete prison. There was a heavy comforter over her, soft sheets beneath her, a beautiful man with dark brown skin next to her. His dark eyelashes shone without his glasses to cover them. He was asleep. She breathed a deep sigh. Ace Anarchy was dead. She was beside her fiancee, not at Cragmoor. It was just a nightmare. She smiled a bit at the irony. This would have never happened to her as a child. But ever since the Second Battle for Gatlon, she could sleep, as long as Adrian was beside her.

Adrian, as if sensing her thoughts, stirred beside her. His eyelashes fluttered open, his gaze landing on her staring down at him.

“Nova.”

“Good morning, baby.”

His mouth lifted at that, a small movement that sent Nova’s heart fluttering. She smiled back, leaning down to kiss him. It was a slow kiss, Nova’s dry lips chapped by winter meeting his soft ones. She felt his warmth morning breath on her face and huffed, extracting herself from his arms.

“You need to brush your teeth!”

“Not yet,” he replied with a wicked grin, pulling her back down. His lips met hers in a quiet crash, their arms wrapping around each other. She felt a ray of warmth strike her spine and she let out a sigh. They fell apart, gazes never leaving each other.

“Are you okay, baby?” Adrian asked, suddenly.

Nova realized her face was screwed into a worried frown and relaxed. “Yeah. I’m good.”

His hands cupped her face. “You can tell me.”

She let out a long breath. “Just, stuff.”

“You had another one, didn’t you? Another nightmare?”

“It’s really fine.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. “It’s just a bad dream.”

“So you say,” he said, propping his head up with his elbow. “But you know I’m here for you, love. Right?”

“I know.” She smiled, but it was one tinged with sadness. The memories, however much she wanted them to, would not fade. Especially not Cragmoor. Especially not all those who had been locked up for a decade, who had only ever wanted liberty. Especially not her uncle, Ace Anarchy, her childhood role model, father, leader. Her betrayer. Her parent’s murderer. Her  _ sister’s  _ murderer.

Cragmoor Penitentiary was disbanded now. Or at least, its old self was gone. Prodigies were still sent there, but only after a fair trial, and only with reformed Anarchists and Rejects present at that trial. Nova had been a part of bringing about that change.

Ace, though, would never go away.  _ Alec Artino _ . How human had he been? How monster?

She noticed, then, that Adrian had his arms around her. She buried her face in his t-shirt, breathing in his scent.  _ It was over, it was over, it was over. _

She knew that she could not forget. But at least, with Adrian by her side, she could heal.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed this lil one shot, please give kudos and comment! have a nice day/night!


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